Freedom Foundation of Minnesota

The Freedom Foundation of Minnesota (FFM) is a state-based think tank and member of the State Policy Network. The Freedom Foundation describes itself as "an independent, non-profit educational and research organization that actively advocates the principles of individual freedom, personal responsibility, economic freedom, and limited government."[1] Annette Meeks, former Deputy Chief of Staff for House Speaker Newt Gingrich, founded FFM in 2006 and currently serves as CEO.[2]

Global Warming

In 2009 the foundation was a co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute's 2009 conference for climate change skeptics.[3]

Ties to Redistricting Efforts

A report from the Alliance for a Better Minnesota cited stories from Minnesota Public Radio and Slate magazine indicating that FFM had ties to Minnesotans for Fair Redistricting. The group is a supposedly independent group working to redistrict Minnesota, but has known Republican bias. Although officially FFM denies any involvement with Minnesotans for Fair Redistricting, board member Chris Georgacas headed the group. Attorney Tony Trimble, another FFM board member, worked with the group's legal team and helped with the redistricting plans.<ref="report"/>

Ties to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity

Freedom Foundation of Minnesota founded Minnesota Watchdog.[4] The Freedom Foundation of Minnesota was listed as a Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity "Watchdog Bureau".[5] The Franklin Center funds reporters in over 40 states.[6] Despite their non-partisan description, many of the websites funded by the Franklin Center have received criticism for their conservative bias.[7][8] On its website, the Franklin Center claims it "provides 10 percent of all daily reporting from state capitals nationwide."[9]

Franklin Center Funding

Franklin Center Director of Communications Michael Moroney told the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) in 2013 that the source of the Franklin Center's funding "is 100 percent anonymous." But 95 percent of its 2011 funding came from DonorsTrust, a spin-off of the Philanthropy Roundtable that functions as a large "donor-advised fund," cloaking the identity of donors to right-wing causes across the country (CPI did a review of Franklin's Internal Revenue Service records).[10]Mother Jones called DonorsTrust "the dark-money ATM of the conservative movement" in a February 2013 article.[11] Franklin received DonorTrust's second-largest donation in 2011.[10]